Lead paint cleanup plans announced

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Cleanup work on 600 lead-contaminated properties in Rhode Island will soon be going out to bid.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch announced today that the Healthy Kids Collaborative (HKC) has issued a request for proposals (RFP) for a lead safe remediation program that will bring homes targeted communities to the current federal and state standards for lead safety.

The work is being funded by DuPont Co., which in 2005 agreed to pay about $12 million to get out of a state lawsuit against former lead paint companies.

"This is a milestone in our partnership with the Children's Health Forum because this project makes the DuPont agreement real," Lynch said. "With the issuance of this RFP, we begin the process of remediating homes harboring lead paint that have housed generations of families, and making them lead-safe for the families living in them now and in the future."

The state had hoped for a much more expansive cleanup after winning a jury verdict against three other manufacturers in 2006.  But the state Supreme Court overturned that verdict last month.